


Of Confessions and Stormy Weather

by NettleL



Category: Digimon Frontier
Genre: F/M, Short shooort fic of these two cuties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 17:53:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13792992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NettleL/pseuds/NettleL
Summary: Zoe?Pfft.





	Of Confessions and Stormy Weather

He’d said it so many times that he could burst.

It was her _hair_. Or clothes. Whatever it was, was so heavily scented with perfumes that it suffocated his entire olfactory system. Probably poisoned the air around them, too. It also didn’t help that the girl would hold on to him for so long, and so tight, and so _close_. So whenever he’d get teased by some brainless idiot about his badly concealed blush, or fussed at by a certain chubby friend - who so happened to be heads-over-heels about the same perfume-scented girl - he’d blame it on her perfume. He didn’t even like her… not like _that_. But the moment she’d hug him, the accusations and implications flew. And it was because of her perfume, or hairspray, or lotion, or whatever “girl-thing” it was - that his face would go beet red whenever she threw her arms around him. Or clasped her fingers onto his shirt, or (especially) around his neck. It was because of  _that_ that his face would flame, because he did not even remotely like Zoe, and—

…and honestly? It was the best lie that he could think up.

It felt like a blessing that she could so easily run to him for comfort, or… protection, that sort of thing. And additionally good that she had no interest in J.P—not that he visibly showed any sort of satisfaction from it. Inside satisfaction, scowl on the out.

So in this type of situation, where Takuya, Tommy and J.P were separated from he and Zoe, he wouldn't’ve minded, of course not…

...Had her tent not gotten practically obliterated and set in flames, courtesy of a well-aimed lightning strike.

He’d thrown the remaining shambles of pink tent in the fire, and they’d sat in silence watching it for what felt like an hour.

“I… I still have my sleeping bag. If it ever gets cold, or even rain, then I'll just—”

“Pass.”

She blinked at him. “Pass..?”

He told her that he'd take the sleeping bag and sleep outside while she slept in his ember-free tent. It was simple, he thought, it _wasn't_ a big deal. He was a boy, she was a girl. He was a man of honor, and she was a princess. But Zoe put up a fight - she'd argued with him for about twenty minutes with how she would _not_ let him sleep outside while she slept in  _his_ tent, and he’d thrown that argument right back at her - because of course she did. Because she was Zoe, and Zoe was _recalcitrant_ , sometimes annoyingly so, and especially in this instance.

...But she made up for it with how faultlessly selfless she was. He couldn't deny that.

This was just... awkward though.

Zoe lay on one side of the tent, and he settled for the furthest distance possible away from her. Thankfully, his tent had enough space to house the both of them - even better, _large_ enough that they wouldn't have to be on top of each other. Since he wasn't going to let her sleep outside, and she obviously wasn't going to let him sleep outside, they—really, _Zoe—_ had settled on sleeping in the same tent, and her spirits seemed to brighten from that conclusion.

He tried multiple times to leave, but Zoe wasn't having any of it. So in the end, he gave up and they'd been in silence ever since.

Well, until now.

“See?” she chimed. “It's not so bad! Once you stop squirming and being a baby.”

Brothers. She had to have brothers. That had to be why she wasn't at least a little uncomfortable in this situation.

“I'm  _not_ being a baby," he threw back. If he was a baby then she was a brat. “I don't sleep with girls.”

A pause. Mentally kicking himself, Koji backpedaled.

“...I don't  _share tents_ with girls.”

Another mental kick; he was pretty sure he was making his own hair stand on end. He looked crabbily away.

“Oh come off it, Koji.” Zoe laughed. “Besides, if it helps… it's better with you than with that dumb Takuya. And I always think Tommy will pee on himself, so he's a no-go, and J.P?” She grunted.

(He nearly, just  _nearly_ said, “Really?”)

“Don't blame you. Goodnight.”

Zoe was staring at him—he could feel it—and he wished she’d stop so his face could cool down.

“Hey Koji…”

He sighed.

“Can you… look at me?”

He nearly choked.

Honestly, he expected a ‘goodnight’, or a ‘see you tomorrow’, maybe even a question about their friend’s whereabouts. That would'nt’ve surprised him. Just about anything and everything else she could've possibly asked would not have surprised him.

Up until now, Zoe wasn’t full of surprises.

“Aren't you like…tired? Cause I am. And I want to go to sleep.”

Ever persistent, the girl continued. “But you're…” She paused, trying to grasp her words, “Well, look at you! You're huddled up at the very end of tent like I'm disgusting or something. Do you think I'm disgusting?” She made a point to sniff at her clothes, and this time, he mentally kicked _her_.

He had enough of this.

“You want me to face you? Fine. But after I do, you have to stop talking and go to sleep. Deal?”

“Deal!”

She was way too chipper about all this.

When he shuffled around, he was met with two big, green eyes. While they were beautiful, breathtakingly so—he always thought they were—it didn't stop him from getting annoyed.

“I thought we made a deal," he huffed. “Close your eyes.”

“I know! And I _will,” s_ he argued, pouting. “It's just…”

In that instant, something shy washed over her, and there was a tint of red on her cheeks, but she did avert her eyes.

She seemed to be trying to be confident, but her distinctive stare at her hand by her head made it too obvious that she wasn't really.  _Gah,_ she was getting girly again.

“Just,” she threw him a timid smile. “See, I've never seen you with your hat off…”

Then confidence, something true, returned to her, and all of a sudden there was a teasing glint in her eyes. “You're actually really cute!”

Koji sputtered, floored. Vaguely he felt like putting his hat back on just for that.

He also felt a little insulted.

Zoe’s face opened up, as if she had read his thoughts.

“Ah! I-I know how that sounds, I'm not trying to say I never thought you were cute, or that I think you look cuter with your hat off as opposed to on - that's _not_ what I meant _at all_. I mean, yeah, you _are_ cute, I... always thought that you were, but I'm just—”

“Zoe?” sighed Koji with a wry smile behind his blanket.

“Hm?”

“Stop talking.”

Silence.

“But I want to talk to you.”

“I don't.” He snorted. “Goodnight.”

Silence. This one was a little longer.

“I heard that, you know.”

“Hush.”


End file.
